Stoke Amber
McCashin's Brewery

Stoke AmberStoke Amber
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From:
McCashin's Brewery
 
New Zealand
Style:
American Amber / Red Ale
Ranked #403
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
76
Ranked #27,472
Avg:
3.02 | pDev: 24.17%
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
21
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 20, 2024
Added:
Aug 12, 2011
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by SmashPants:
Photo of SmashPants
Reviewed by SmashPants from Australia

3.58/5  rDev +18.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle: decent dark green 330mL bottle, pretty boring translucent label.

Appearance: a deep orange-red in colour with some steady carbonation. A small head with reasonable lacing and retention.

Aroma: an almost pungent malt-driven sweetness with toffee and caramels. Not much in the way of bitterness behind it though.

Taste: the sweet flavours are less pungent than on the nose, which is nice. A more rounded combination of those toffee and caramels with some bread malts and some roast malts as well.

Aftertaste: all the flavours linger quite well and for some time - I like it.

Mouth feel: a fairly light body with moderate carbonation. Nothing special, but then again no complaints.

Overall: quite a nice sessional amber ale. Nothing super special, just a good-quality beer for one or three. Worht AU$65 a case (2013)? Maybe.
Jun 25, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 1.75 by jroof1 from Massachusetts

Feb 20, 2024
 
Rated: 2.96 by hopnerd from Australia

Jul 03, 2016
Photo of leaddog
Reviewed by leaddog from Canada (AB)

3.42/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Appearance - Pours a rust colour with a finger of bubbly white head.

Smell - toffee, bready malts, earthy and leafy hops, hint of dark fruits, and brown sugar.

Taste - Toffee and bready malts start off the brew followed by the brown sugar and hint of dark fruits. The hint of earthy and leafy hops make their presence known at the end of the brew.

Mouthfeel - Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with a lingering malty sweetness.

Overall - A malty rendition of the style. I wish the hops would play more of a dominant role to make it more to true to the style.
Feb 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4.42 by masonhender from Canada (AB)

Sep 08, 2015
 
Rated: 3.8 by Exeter from Canada (AB)

Aug 09, 2015
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.6/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
330ml bottle, billed as a 'big malt Kiwi ale'.

This beer pours a clear, medium bronzed amber hue, with one skinny finger of weakly foamy, and plainly frothy ecru head, which leaves some amorphous blob lace around the glass as things evenly subside.

It smells of grainy, lightly biscuity, and semi-sweet caramel malt, field honey, sultana raisins, a subtle dark fruitiness, and soft leafy, weedy, and herbal hops. The taste is more gritty, grainy caramel malt, a touch of biscuity toffee, plump raisins, an indistinct dark sugar sweetness, maybe a hint of Pez candies, and generic earthy, leafy, and weedy hops.

The carbonation is fairly active in its supportive and slightly fizzy roles, the body on the light side of middleweight, and sort of smooth, a small hop acridity somehow seeming bigger than it really is. It finishes off-dry, but not by as much as one might have expected - those noble-esque hops playing all sneaky and such.

Big and malty, sure, but not exactly in an over-the-top, runaway fashion, as evidenced at the end of this antipodean affair. Nothing fancy overall, just a workaday amber ale, sans any overt flaws, which is a virtual compliment, when dealing with this maligned style. Trying it won't kill you, but maybe don't do it at the elevated import prices it's going for around here.
Jun 02, 2015
 
Rated: 2.88 by Guden from Maryland

Nov 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by chogm54 from Australia

Oct 17, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by WalrusAle from Australia

Oct 14, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Aug 07, 2014
Photo of wordemupg
Reviewed by wordemupg from Canada (AB)

3.63/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
330ml bottle poured into pint glass 5/3/14

A clear reddish amber with plenty of bubbles feeding a short lived finger of foam that leaves no lace

S cotton candy, honey, a little brown sugar, caramel, some orchard fruit I can't place, and some herbal hops

T just a hint of fruity nut bar, a little tea bag to go with what I smell, grows on me a little as it warms

M far more body then the body would let you believe, soft carbonation, herbal finish

O decent brew but nothing really stands out, would make a good lawnmower beer

had this one at a coffee shop at Lake Taupo at 10am while waiting for a brew pub to open next door, my wife wouldn't wait any longer so I missed out on that one, last time I wake up early.
Mar 15, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by SouthCrescent from Pennsylvania

Mar 10, 2014
Photo of soju6
Reviewed by soju6 from Missouri

3.49/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4
A: Puous a clear dark amber color with a good tan head that fades to nice lacing.

S: Aroma of roasted malt, some sweetness and dark fruit with a bit of spice.

T: Taste of Roasted malt with some chocolate mixed in with dark fruit and bit of spice. Mild bitterness and a clean finish.

F: Fairly medium body, smooth and quite creamy, with a nice balance.

O: Enjoyable beer. good for a couple. worth a try.
Jun 01, 2013
 
Rated: 2 by pin from Australia

Jun 19, 2012
 
Rated: 3.25 by will1256 from Minnesota

Mar 11, 2012
Photo of CrazyDavros
Reviewed by CrazyDavros from Australia

3.1/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours dark amber with a small fading head.
Nose shows caramel and over-ripe apples alongside some faint, spicy hops.
Similarly malty flavours, with nutty and toasty characters. Also some boring spicy hops leading to a mild, plain bitterness in the finish.
Could use more carbonation and a richer body.
Jan 16, 2012
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

3.36/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours a lovely pleasant red-amber hue from the bottle, with a filmy fug of off-white around the rim. Minimal lacing, and the bubbling is large. Colour is great though, and it has some depth in the body. Looks pretty good to me.

Nose is sweet and slightly grainy, giving a whiff of something roasted—together it tends towards something sticky and toffee-like. Otherwise rather light, and there's not much in the way of hops to cut through the sweetness.

Taste is actually surprisingly light, with none of the residual underfermented wort character I expected from the sweetness on the nose. Instead, it gives pleasant sweet nutty notes balanced with a slight metallic bitterness on the back, which is surprisingly springy, keeping the palate from degrading or disappearing too quickly. Light feel leaves an empty mid-palate, but it's not too bad.

Overall, not a bad brew, albeit not a particularly exciting one. It's clean, relatively well balanced and drinkable, while having a decent amount of character. I'm surprised that there are such bad reviews of it here—if anything, I would have thought it's inoffensive enough to not provoke strong emotions either positive or negative.
Dec 30, 2011
Photo of ADZA
Reviewed by ADZA from Australia

1.48/5  rDev -51%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5
Pours a murky amber hue with a fast vanishing head believe me nothing to see here and the smell is basically sweet caramel and toffee with a hint of raisins,the mouthfeel is weak and insipid and to be honest just like water and the tastes are basically the same as the smell with caramel and toffee being the dominant tastes with also a touch of raisins and herbal hops and overall i need to teach my mate what brews he should buy from now on as this is just like macro swill with probably a bigger price tag and i dont know if this is how they usually taste but you wouldnt see me spending my hard earned on this cheers.
Dec 26, 2011
Photo of MrKennedy
Reviewed by MrKennedy from Australia

1.81/5  rDev -40.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2
330ml bottle purchased from Dan Murphys, Top Ryde and poured into a 10oz middy glass.

Was a modest gusher, but poured a nice copper amber colour with a clear appearance. The head of foam was about the norm, which was a little surprising given the initial gush.

The smell started off as a one dimensional bad malty aroma. Fortunately some caramel came in late to offer some redemption.

Taste was wholly that one dimensional cheap malt flavour that dominated the smell.

Some malt bitterness and harshness present in the mouthfeel. The body was thin in patches as well.

Overall this was the worst beer I've had in a while. The best part was how it looked, but the smell and taste will sadly live with me for longer than I'd like.
Aug 12, 2011
Stoke Amber from McCashin's Brewery
Beer rating: 76 out of 100 with 21 ratings